Shohaku Okumura

‘Our practice includes all activities of this body and mind – including our thoughts, which are one way to understand this wondrous Dharma. We don’t need to cut off our thoughts. Thinking is, in fact, a function of the Dharma. But we should understand that thought cannot grasp reality. So we have to open our hands and work with the reality we encounter daily.’ (Living By Vow)

This is perhaps a level deeper than we often get to look at things. I usually stick to telling people to let go of their thoughts, because that is what we are most attached to. If you tell people that their thoughts are indeed part of the unfolding reality of each moment, they can take that as an excuse not to work at cultivating our awareness of the moment through other means, because we trust that thoughts can do everything for us and solve every problem.